States may bind together to fight federal gun laws

Lawmakers in Missouri are once again trying to nullify federal gun laws within the Show-Me State, and this time around they hope Second Amendment advocates elsewhere will join in their fight.

The Republican-controlled State Legislature came up one vote shy
last year of overriding a veto from Governor Jay Nixon, a
democrat, who opposed a conservative-led effort to outlaw
the enforcement of federal gun control regulations within
Missouri.

Under that bill, police officers caught enforcing federal gun law
restrictions within the state would have been subject to criminal
and civil penalties. Just months after Gov. Nixon’s veto kept the
bill off the books, though, lawmakers are again rehashing their
effort to keep federal regulations from interfering with their
United States Constitution-protected right to bear arms.

State Sen. Brian Nieves (R-District 26) introduced a bill last
week, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which again attempts
to forbid law enforcement officials within the state from
restricting firearm ownership.

“This act declares as invalid all federal laws that infringe
on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the US
Constitution,” the bill reads, and “declares that it is
the duty of the courts and law enforcement agencies to protect
the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.”

“Under this act, no public officer or state employee has the
authority to enforce firearms laws declared invalid by the
act,” the bill continues, and if approved those in violation
could land themselves Class A misdemeanor charges.

With this year’s bill likely about to encounter an uphill battle
as in 2013, however, Nieves and other proponents have hatched a
plan that will call on lawmakers in other states to suggest
similar proposals.

Unlike last year’s proposal, the 2014 Second Amendment
Preservation Act would take several years to go into effect if
approved. According to remarks made by Sen. Nieves to the
Associated Press this week, that delay could give other states
ample time to consider enacting similar measures.

“We continue to see the federal government overreach their
rightful bounds, and if we can create a situation where we have
some unity among states, then I think it puts us in a better
position to make that argument," Sen. Nieves told the AP.

“This can’t be just a Missouri effort,” Republican
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempse added to the AP. “There
has to be a groundswell of support by the people — by other
states as well — in order for us ultimately to be
successful.”

Attempts in states like Missouri in years past have been largely
unsuccessful, but federal efforts in recent months to enact
blanketing gun laws across the US may spawn support among
conservatives determined to disrupt any proposals from Washington
that would limit who can own firearms. In the wake of the 2012
massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newton, Connecticut,
a new law on the books in that state as of the first of the month
makes it illegal to own assault weapons and large-capacity
ammunition magazines. In neighboring New York state, gun owners
will have to jump through hoops in order to have such weapons
registered.

As RT reported previously, sheriffs in some cities across the US
have been personally refusing to enforce new gun laws.

“All law enforcement agencies consider the community
standards — what is it that our community wishes us to focus on —
and I can tell you our community is not worried one whit about
background checks or high-capacity magazines,” Sheriff W.
Pete Palmer of Chaffee County, Colorado told the New York Times
last month.

Now in hopes of countering any attempts at passing such laws on a
federal level, politicians in Missouri are once again fighting to
eliminate any oversight from Uncle Sam when it comes to firearms.
Lawmakers there are looking elsewhere, however, and hope that
other states will consider similar bills.

"The idea is that if you're standing alone against a federal
law, then you're not as likely to have success than if you're
standing with other states," Arkansas Rep. Bob Ballinger
(R-97), who sponsored an unsuccessful attempt to prevent
enforcement of federal gun control laws in his state, added to
the AP.